Darrell Markewitz is a professional blacksmith who specializes in the Viking Age. He designed the living History program for L'Anse aux Meadows NHSC (Parks Canada) and worked on a number of major international exhibits. A recent passion is experimental iron smelting.
'Hammered Out Bits' focuses primarily on IRON and the VIKING AGE

Sunday, January 15, 2017

In addition to my submission for the open Elora Sculpture Project
seen yesterday, I also prepared a submission specifically for the Canada
2017 competition there:

2017 ELORA SCULPTURE PROJECT
CANADA 150 LEGACY PROGRAM

In celebration of the Canada’s 150th year since Confederation, the Township of Centre Wellington in partnership with Elora Sculpture Project will purchase up to two sculptures to remain on permanent display in the community.
For consideration in this program the works must:

2. Be created by a Canadian resident and:
 Celebrate Canada, it’s history, geography, peoples or culture, or
 Convey the artist’s thoughts and feelings on being Canadian at this moment in time, or
 Convey aspirations for, or visions of, times yet to come.

History in the Wind

What is the weather? One of the defining characteristics of Canadians everywhere has been our discussion (often complaints) about the weather. Through Canada’s long history, weather vanes have had symbolic meaning, with specific cultural / regional styles. Over the decades, with my connection to museums throughout Canada, weathervanes have been a area of both interest and work. This has included reproductions of specific artifacts, new work inside historic design traditions, and extension into my own ‘windbile’ series of sculptural objects.

‘History in the Wind’, overall, consists of a series of individual elements, representing various historical and cultural traditions, stacked chronologically one above another on a central support. In this the rough form also echoes First Nations ‘totem pole’ memorials.

1) The Land - As Canadians, again almost universally, we are strongly tied to place. Since the Canadian Shield runs under almost all our country - and almost links the whole country side to side, a block of granite forms the base of the sculpture. I have proposed random piece of glacier dragged and smoothed stone - here representing the Land before the advent of humans.

2) First Nations - Obviously the First Nations Peoples inhabited the Land for thousands of years before the recent history of Canada. For at least Eastern Peoples, the Turtle is important in traditions about the creation of the world. Here the figure of Turtle is rendered in a thick slab of simply surface carved wood. This element, although mobile, is not balanced to shift under anything but the most harsh of winds. This is intentional, representing the long duration of First Nation’s traditional beliefs.

3) The Norse - The Scandinavians of the late Viking Age were the first Europeans to travel to our East Coast, although admittedly only with a brief stay. Bronze Weather Boards like this element were fixed to the ship’s prow, with weighted ribbons moving to indicate wind direction and speed. The figure punched into the metal surface is the World Serpent, thought to entwine the World. *

4) Early Europeans - The first European voyages to their ‘New World’ start in the early 1500’s, what is really the end of the Medieval period. At this time, the ‘Banner’ design was common. The element was created out of individually hand forged bars, the whole riveted together - the construction method chosen here. The date of 1605 represents the founding Champlain’s original settlement at Port Royal in Nova Scotia.

5) Quebec - The most common early Canadian weather vane is the rooster or cock. With its ties to Christian symbolism, this remained especially true in Quebec. The historic samples range from simple sheet iron cut outs, carved wood, and hammered tin plate and elaborate copper sheet. The Weathercock seen here, executed in copper, is based one from Saint Georges.

6) Upper Canada - As settlement moved westward into what is now Ontario, the taste of the English speaking immigrants effected choice of design, with the Horse becoming one of the most popular. The development of the first cutting torches, it became possible to easily cut heavy steel sheet. The pattern here is loosely based on a number of vanes from Central Ontario.

7) Into the Future - As time progressed, commercial stamped weathervanes, sized as decoration rather than function, started to replace the larger often self made figures. With the shift (in my own life time) of Canada from primarily a rural to primarily urban dwellers, people are increasingly cut off from even being able to feel the wind at all. Increasingly, suburban home owners were able to install simple weather forecasting instruments. This includes the spinning cups of the Anemometer, to measure wind speed. For the top element the form of this functional instrument is warped to create an element as much eye catching as useful. It incorporates six spiral shaped individual arms, each with a inserted moving ball element

- The installed sculpture will stand roughly 9 feet about the base mount. - The individual elements all shift with the wind, the widest being the Banner, at roughly 5 feet above ground level and sweeping out roughly a five foot diameter circle (so 2 1/2 feet each direction from the base).

Asking Price for ‘History in the Wind’ can only be estimated at this point.Rough Quote = $3500

* Some might question of my inclusion of the Norse, at the possible cost of an element representing 1900's / Western Canada.This was done for a number of reasons:1) What do you use to represent a weather vane for the West? Figures of cattle are typical, but within the overall design, such a figure is too repetitive above the Upper Canada / Horse. Another possibility might be a tractor, which I did consider.2) I was attempting to look a very wide patches of Canadian history, again attempting to illustrate 'founding' elements. (Ok - this might preclude the Norse too.)3) There is the graphic flow from the base upwards. The individual elements are getting increasingly 'realistic' as the sequence moves up. To the obvious break of a potential future - unknown.4) Hey - I * AM * 'the Viking Guy'....

Saturday, January 14, 2017

The following is an portion of my submission to this year's Elora Sculpture Project:

‘Hello / Goodbye’

This is a simpler piece than in previous years. I continue to explore the concept of wind powered / moving sculptures. Within the larger grouping of works part of ESP, I feel objects that incorporate motion can serve to capture the public’s attention.

‘Hello / Goodbye’ consists of a set of five individual mounted elements. With the base structure, the overall impression is of a stylized hand raised in greeting, the individual fingers waggling. Each ‘finger’ is a long slender, slightly curved rod, ending in an elongated oval ‘finger nail’ formed of stainless steel sheet. Each sheet ‘nail’ is slightly dished and mounted at slightly different angles to capture the wind. Each of the ‘fingers’ ends in a heavy mass of steel, which functions as a counterweight. These masses start as disks cut from solid 3 inch (plus?) mild steel, which are then compressed via forging to more irregular shapes.

The framing element, suggestive of the open palm, supports a central pivot. The ‘fingers’ are mounted along the pivot bar, allowing for motion front to back, but not side to side. The paired top bars of the frame limit the travel of the fingers. In wind, the ‘nail’ surfaces react with the wind to move the ‘fingers’ from rest, with the counter balance weights reacting to swing each back and forth - ‘waggling’ the fingers.

Overall, ‘Hello / Goodbye’ will stand about 8 feet tall when mounted. At the mounting ‘palm’, the size is about 3 feet tall by about 24 + inches wide. The moving counterweights sweep out about 12 - 14 inches of depth. At the top edge, the individual ‘fingers’ will splay out to about 3 - 4 feet wide. In motion, the very top edges will move through roughly 3 - 4 feet of depth.

Asking Price for ‘Hello / Goodbye’ can only be estimated at this point, but is expected to be roughly $1500.

I have submitted (and been chosen to display) work for the ESP from 2013 through 2016:2013 - ‘Layers’2014 - ‘Spears of Summer’2015 - ‘Armoured Fish’2016 - ‘Barrel Turbine’Checking past postings / search would give you the submissions and images of the final works as installed

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Ontario Arts Council

Canada Council

Ontario Arts Council

February - May 2012 : 'Bloom to Bar' Project Grant

February 15 - May 15, 2012 : Supported by a Crafts Projects - Creation and Development Grant

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or in part, is permitted without the author's expressed written permission.
For a detailed copyright statement : go HERE